170 A Short History of The World The Gaulish raid seems to have invigorated rather than weakened Rome. The Romans conquered and assimilated the Etruscans, and extended their power over aU central Italy from the Amo to Naples. To this they had reached within a few years of 300 B.C. Their con- quests in Italy were going on simultaneously with the growth of Philip's power in 'Macedonia and Greece, and the tremendous raid of Alexander to Egypt and the Indus. The Romans had become notable people in the civilized world to the east of them by the break- up of Alexander's Empire. To the north of the Roman power were the Gauls ; to the south of them were the Greek settlements of Magna Grsecia, that is to say of Sicily and of the toe and heel of Italy. The Gauls were a hardy, warUke people and the Romans held that boundary by a line of forts and fortified settlements. The Greek cities in the south headed by Tarentum (now Taranto) and by Syracuse in Sicily, did not so much threaten as fear the Romans. They looked about for some help against these new conquerors. We have already told how the empire of Alexander fell to pieces and was divided among his generals and companions. Among these adventurers was a kinsman of Alexander's named Pyrrhus, who established himself in Epirus, which is across the Adriatic Sea over against the heel of Italy. It was his ambition to play the part of Philip of Macedonia to Magna Graecia, and to become protector and master-general of Tarentum, Syracuse and the rest of that part of the world. He had what was then a very efficient modern army ; he had an infantry phalanx, cavalry from Thessaly — ^which was now quite as good as the original Macedonian cavalry — and twenty fight- ing elephants ; he invaded Italy and routed the Romans in two con- siderable battles, Heraclea (280 b.c.) and Ausculum (279 B.C.) and having driven them north, he turned his attention to the subjuga- tion of Sicily. But this brought against him a more formidable enemy than were the Romans at that time, the Phoenician trading city of Carthage, which was probably then the greatest city in the world. Sicily was too near Carthage for a new Alexander to be welcome there to the Carthaginians ;. Carthage was mindful of the fate that had befallen her mother city Tyre half a century before. So she sent a fleet to en- courage or compel Rome to continue the struggle, and she cut the overseas communications of Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus found himself freshly assailed by the Romans, and suffered a disastrous repulse in an
